Clothes-pounder



(No Model.)

- H. E. OLMSTEAD.

OLOTHBS POUNDEB.

No. 361,888. Patented Apr. 26, 1887.-

'NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

. HOMER E. OLMSTEAD, OF DECATUR, MICHIGAN.

CLOTHES-POUNDER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 361,888,1iated April 26,1887.

Application filed October 19, 1886. Serial No. 216,661. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern-.-

Be itknown that I, HOMER E. OLMSTEAD, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Decatur, in the county of Van Buren and State of Michigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Clothes-Founders; and I do hereby declare that the following isa full, clear, and exact description of the invention, which will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,which form a part of this specification, and in which- Figure Iis a perspective view of my improved clothes pounder or washer. Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view taken through the cones at one end of the device, and Fig. 3 is a detail View of one of the shields detached.

This invention relates to clothes pounders or washers; and it consists of theimproved construction and combination of parts, as will be hereinafter more fully set forth.

To prevent the suds from being thrown upon the operator as the pounders enter the water, I secure a shield or flange upon the sides of the cones next the operator, which enters the water before the cones do without any splash, as it is open at the ends, through which the air escapes as it enters the water, and also catches the water that is thrown out from under the portion of the cone beneath it. The mouth or lower edge of the cones is made on an incline from the outside inward and upward, and

the device is rocked back and forth. This method requires less force to operate it than to lift it out of the water in a vertical direction at arms length,'as the cones on one side are lifted up by moving the handle sidewise, causing the cones on the opposite side to act as a support on the clothes. The suction of the cones on one sidein being drawn from the water, which draws the water up through the clothes, is thus made to assist in forcing the cones on the other side down upon the clothes, thus equalizing the power of the machine and causing it to operate faster.

The device is so light that it can be readily removed from one suds-receptacle to another, and it is so easy in its operation and simple in its construction that almost any one can operate it. It is also strong and durable, arid so compact that it takes up but very little room when not in use.

Referring to the accompanyingdrawings, in which the same letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures, A represents the outer cones, of which I prefer to use four, and B the inner ones,'each outer con having an inner one within it. r

O O are uprights or legs upon which the cones are secured, and which are secured at their tops to a handle, D, the .outer ends of which can be corrugated, as shown, to give a inner cones at top and bottom, and also causes the inner portions of the cones on the legs of each frame to approach each other, making it more compact. cones are also secured to the lower ends of the legs 0 by means'of the cross-bars G G, which are secured to each other at their middles and to the cones at their ends, one of each pair of bars being secured to the lower end of one of the legs at a point intermediate its middle and one end. Besides acting as braces, these bars also assist in pounding the clothes and loosening the dirt.

Upon the outer side of each of the cones a shield, H, is secured, which extends about onethird of the way around them. The upper edge of each of these shields is bent inward, as shown at I, and secured to the cone, which thus holds the shield at alittle distance from the cone, and the lower edge is provided with a brace wire or rod, J, the ends of which project beyond the ends of the shields and are secured to the lower edge of the outer cones. This construction leaves the shield disconnected at the ends, so that when the lower edge is forced below the surface of the water the air is expelled at the ends instead of being forced out from under the edge, and the shield catches the water that would be thrown on the The lower edges of the outer passing through the tops of said cones and projeeting down to the lower edge of the inner cone, where it is secured, and a suitable brace secured to the lower edges of the cones and to the bottom of each of the legs.

2. In a elothes-pounder, the combination of cones secured to the bottom of an.A-shaped frame and a shield secured to the outer portion of each of said cones, said shields being secured at their tops and bottoms to the cones, but having their ends open and disconnected from said cones.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereunto afiiXed my signature in presence of two witnesses.

HOMER 'E. OLMSTEAD.

Witnesses:

' M. LAUPHEIMER,

ISAAC ARMSTRONG. 

